Blend (Skill)
The Blend skill is used to avoid being noticed. Unlike Sneak (which is an active skill requiring you to dedicate time to avoiding detection), Blend is passive and therefore used by default unless specified otherwise. Blend’s only check is a free action, making this the default skill of choice for those who want to be sneaky without trying. Characters with a high Blend rank tend to fade into crowds, unconsciously concealing traces of their presence and otherwise consistently avoiding attention. This skill is common to spies, who often spend long periods quietly collecting information in a region before their latest mission launches. It’s also common to socially unobtrusive sorts, such as quiet diplomats and con artists. 'Special Note: '''Unless you spend one full action actively hiding with the Sneak/Hide check, you '''must '''use this skill check when determining whether someone or something detects you. '''Sample Knowledge: '''None (all synergy bonuses to Knowledge concerning covert tactics are derived from the Sneak skill alone). Stealth Stealth represents your ability to lurk in and out of a crowd. In any 30-ft. × 30-ft. area occupied by fewer than 10 people, your key attribute with this check is Dexterity; in a more populated area, it’s Charisma. If an observer actively seeks something in your area (whether it’s you or not), your Stealth result opposes his Search/Perception result; otherwise, your Stealth result opposes his Notice/Awareness result. Your check result and error range — as well as those of the observer — are modified as shown on Table 2.25: Character Detection. If your Stealth result exceeds the observer’s check result, you escape detection, gaining the hidden condition against him. If your Stealth result fails to exceed the observer’s check result, the observer becomes aware of your presence (and any hidden condition is lost). If you’re within his visual or hearing range, as appropriate, he also learns your location. Further, the observer may spend 1 free action communicating your location, after which you lose the hidden condition against the people whom he tipped off. The Stealth skill check may ''not ''be used to escape detection once someone knows your location, even if they’re only casually paying attention to you. That may be attempted only with the Sneak/Hide skill check, and only under special circumstances. Since making a Stealth check is a free action, you may also use your remaining standard actions to move or perform other activities, though they may increase the chance of detection, as shown on Table 2.25. Further, when you’re moving, you must make a Stealth check once per round. When you’re stationary (i.e. you don’t leave your current square), your first successful Stealth check allows you to avoid detection for 1 minute, and each subsequently successful Stealth check allows you to avoid detection for twice as long as the last one. ''Example: ''Kevin feverishly works to open a security door as guards patrol the area. He escapes detection for 1 minute with his first successful Stealth check, for 2 minutes with his second, for 4 minutes with his third, for 8 minutes with his fourth, and so on. ''Finding Multiple People: ''If more than one character is hidden in one 30-ft. × 30-ft. area, the same Notice/Awareness or Search/Perception result is compared against each Stealth result in turn, from lowest to highest (i.e. the observer finds the item with the lowest Stealth result first). '''Cooperative: '''No. '''Retry: '''No. '''Threat: '''You gain a keen sense of your surroundings. When making a Stealth or Hide check, your result cap increases by 5 and your error range decreases by 1 (minimum 1). This effect lasts until the end of the current scene, until you move more than 30 ft. away from the position where you scored your threat, or until you fail a Stealth or Hide check (whichever comes first). '''Critical Success: '''You’re a ghost. When moving, you keep your current Stealth result for 1 minute per action die spent (maximum 4 minutes per critical success); when stationary, you avoid detection until the end of the current scene. '''Error: '''A fumble attracts attention to your vicinity. You suffer a –4 penalty with Stealth and Hide checks, and your error ranges with these checks are increased by 1, until the end of the current scene, or until you succeed with a Stealth or Hide check (whichever comes first). '''Critical Failure: '''Everyone with line of sight to you, or within hearing range of you, automatically learns your location. You may not attempt another Stealth or Hide check until you move out of each of these characters’ lines of sight and hearing ranges, or until the end of the current scene, whichever comes first. Category:Skill Rules Category:Skill Checks